Good Seeds Community Garden: Learn, Connect, and Grow
My students need books, especially a class set of 25 of "Seedfolk" and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Parttime Indian" plus eight others such as "American Born Chinese", "Romiette and Julio", and "Why We Broke Up" in the classroom. The class sets are to connect to our community garden project, and the others are for "Drop Everything and Read" time.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
"I can change that. Can change it big." This is a quote from Seedfolks, a book I use with my ninth grade students who are working in a community garden. With this book, we make classroom and community connections. Unfortunately, we are unable to buy this book, or others for our classroom.
I have a diverse group of 9th and 11th graders who attend a large, urban high school.
The majority of my students are African American, but I also have a small percentage of international students, white students and Mexican-American students. The school as a whole is also diverse. The average daily student enrollment in 2010-2011 was 734 students. The majority of the student body, 80.6 percent, was Black, non-Hispanic, 6.8 percent was Hispanic, 1.4 percent was Multi-Racial, and 10.6 was percent White, non-Hispanic. My students are motivated to learn, and have particularly enjoyed the service-learning project we have done with a local community garden. With this project, I help my students make connections between reading, writing and their communities. The work they have done in the garden is truly remarkable and has garnered the attention of local universities and news stations. Further, the connections I have been able to facilitate within our classroom have been transformative.
My Project
My students need books, especially a class set of 25 of Seedfolks and The Absolutely True Diary of a Parttime Indian plus eight others such as American Born Chinese, Romiette and Julio, and Why We Broke Up in the classroom. The class sets are to connect to our community garden project, and the others are for "Drop Everything and Read" time. I have done a service-learning project in my classroom for the past three years. Recently, I found this book "Seedfolks," which would allow students to make direct connections between what we were reading in the classroom and what we were doing in the community garden. This year, I was able to borrow a small set from another teacher, but due to the high number of students in my class, I had to make paper copies for a number of my students. I want for my students to be able to hold the book in their hands, be able to turn the pages, and to be able to experience every dimension of reading a good book. I also added a class set of Sherman Alexie's book, which I use with my 11th graders for similar purposes. The rest of the books will go on a book shelf in my classroom to encourage reading. I want to create a literacy rich environment in my classroom so that they are inspired to read and feel welcome to borrow a book throughout the day.
My class's service-learning project, which now includes the first wheel chair accessible community flower and vegetable garden in the area, represents a multilayered service-learning initiative in that it facilitates collaboration with other departments in the school.
The science department, for instance, assists with the project'ÂÂs preparation and action phases by planting and nurturing seedlings for the garden. It would be valuable for my students' learning to have this book as a resource.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Washington and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.